Fighting games have a history of having unique or unusual characters join their roster. Soul Calibur has had Link from Legend of Zelda, Spawn from the comics, and even Yoda and Darth Vader from Star Wars. Mortal Kombat put in Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers and Freddie Krugar, and Super Smash Bros has had Piranha Plant, R.O.B. and the Duck Hunt Dog. But for Tekken, they’ve never really had that truly “odd” character come from outside their franchise. Until Tekken 7, when they announced Negan from the Walking Dead was coming.
For those who don’t know, Negan is one of, if not the, most legendary villain from the Walking Dead comic book series, and when he transferred to the TV screen, he became even more legendary and infamous. So during a recent Tekken fest, Bandai Namco showed off a trailer for Negan in Tekken 7, and in the words of actor (and visual representation of Negan) Jeffrey Dean Morgan, “Well, this doesn’t suck!”
For those not understanding what’s going on in the video trailer, the scene is straight from the Walking Dead, both the comics and the live-action TV series. This was viewers first introduction to Negan, and it served as a brutal way to prove that he might be the most insane and brutal villain in the Walking Dead. Ironically, he debuted in Walking Dead #100.
To use the Tekken 7 characters in place of the Walking Dead ones, and even play out the “eeny meeny mini moe” game with them in their stead is very brilliant. All the while showing off Negan’s brutal moveset. Which, not surprisingly, is heavily focused on his barbwire bat Lucille.
All this goes to prove that Bandai Namco didn’t just “put in” Negan, they wanted to show off why this character was so legendary. He’ll be a part of the Season 2 DLC, though no official date of his release has been given yet.
